Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 December 30

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From today's featured article
Muckaty Station is a 2,380-square-kilometre (590,000-acre) Aboriginal freehold landholding in Australia's Northern Territory, approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) south of Darwin. Originally under traditional Indigenous Australian ownership, the area became a pastoral lease in the late 19th century and for many years operated as a cattle station. Muckaty Station was returned to its Indigenous custodians in 1999. It is traversed by the Stuart Highway, built in the 1940s along the route of the service track for the Australian Overland Telegraph Line, a natural gas pipeline, and the Adelaide–Darwin railway. The area comprises semi-arid stony ridges, claypans and a stony plateau, and experiences a sub-tropical climate, with a wet season between January and March. The vegetation is mostly scrubland, including spinifex grasslands. The fauna is generally typical of Australian desert environments, and includes the red kangaroo (pictured), the eastern wallaroo, the northern nail-tail wallaby, and the spinifex hopping mouse. A site within Muckaty is being considered for Australia's low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste storage and disposal facility. The plan is subject to a Federal Court challenge due to be heard early in 2013. (Full article...) Recently featured: War against Nabis – The Notorious B.I.G. – Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Meteora (pictured) in Greece was featured in the 1981 James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only? ... that Zuber Usman was an early pioneer of Indonesian literary criticism? ... that the building of the Bangas Gymnasium in Korcë, Albania, was erected with the support of the Lasso, a local community fund aimed at the promotion of Greek education and culture? ... that Australian bass-baritone Horace Stevens was also a dentist, teacher, tennis player, sculler, and World War I Army officer? ... that middle to upper Paleolithic sites have been found along the Shetrunji River? ... that French Army officer Henri Simon helped to produce the 1934 film Itto? ... that Jamil Mihhu, contesting the Beirut II constituency in the 1968 election, was the first Kurd to run for office in Lebanon? ... that six conductors took part in the retirement concert for Stephen Gray, including Simon Rattle, whose career Gray promoted? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
China officially opens the world's longest high-speed rail route, linking Beijing and Guangzhou. Egyptian voters approve a new constitution. A military aircraft (pictured) crashes while descending toward Shymkent, Kazakhstan, killing all 27 people on board. The victim of a gang-rape in Delhi, which sparked widespread demonstrations across India, dies in Singapore. Park Geun-hye is elected President of South Korea, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Swiss bank UBS is fined US$1.5 billion for its role in the Libor scandal. Recent deaths: Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. – Gerry Anderson – Charles Durning Syrian civil war – Wikinews – More current events...
On this day...
December 30: Rizal Day in the Philippines (1896) 1702 – Carolina colonial governor James Moore abandoned the siege against the Castillo de San Marcos (pictured) at St. Augustine, Spanish Florida, and retreated to Charles Town in disgrace. 1896 – Philippine Revolution: Nationalist José Rizal was executed by a firing squad in Manila after Spanish authorities convicted him of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy. 1947 – Michael, King of Romania, was forced to abdicate by the country's communist government. 2005 – Tropical Storm Zeta was declared a tropical depression, making it the record-breaking thirtieth tropical cyclone of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the most active in recorded history. 2006 – MV Senopati Nusantara, an Indonesian ferry, sank in the Java Sea during a storm, killing at least 400 people. More anniversaries: December 29 – December 30 – December 31 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now December 30, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A panoramic view of the north walls of Ani, a ruined and uninhabited medieval Armenian city-site in the Turkish province of Kars, near the border with Armenia. It was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey. At its height, Ani had a population of 100,000–200,000 people and its many religious buildings, palaces, and fortifications were amongst the most technically and artistically advanced structures in the world.

Photo: Ggia

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